Author Archives
In short, I review clinical research on an almost daily basis. What I post tends to be articles that are relevant to the readers in addition to some curiosities that have intriguing potential.
As a hobby, I truly enjoy the puzzle-solving play that statistics and programming as in the python language bring to the table. I just do not enjoy problem-solving, I love problem-solving and the childlike inspiration and exploration of that innocent exhilaration of discovering something new.
Enjoy ;-)
-
Drug reverses mental retardation caused by genetic disorder : Rapamycin
Re-posted 2008 Contact: Elaine Schmidt eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2272 University of California – Los Angeles UCLA mouse study offers hope for correcting how autism disrupts brain UCLA researchers discovered that an FDA-approved drug reverses the brain dysfunction inflicted by a genetic… Read More ›
-
Did the gene for ADHD help our nomadic ancestors?
Re-Post 2008 Contact: Ben Campbell campbelb@uwm.edu 414-229-6250 University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee An ADHD-associated version of the human gene DRD4 is linked to better health among nomadic tribesmen, but may cause malnourishment in their settled cousins, according to new research… Read More ›
-
Coffee’s aroma kick-starts genes in the brain
Re-Post for Filing 2008 Contact: Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 202-872-4400 American Chemical Society IMAGE:Scientists report that the simple inhalation of coffee by rats has changed their gene expressions in ways that help reduce sleep deprivation-induced stress.Click here for more information. Journal… Read More ›
-
33rd Health Research Report 23 JUN 2008 – Reconstruction
Editors Top Five: 1. Heightened sense of taste can promote weight loss 2. Caesarean sections associated with risk of asthma 3. Red wine’s resveratrol may help battle obesity 4. Did the gene for ADHD help our nomadic ancestors? 5. Drug reverses mental… Read More ›
-
Study explains decrease in insulin-producing beta cells in diabetes: Current Theory is wrong
Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center Findings suggest new approach to treatment IMAGE:The life cycle of transcription factor FoxO1 closely mirrors the state of health of the pancreatic beta cell. In a healthy cell, FoxO1 (stained red)… Read More ›
-
Study of giant viruses shakes up tree of life: “spreaders of information,” Required for Life
Public release date: 13-Sep-2012 [ Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IMAGE:Giant viruses should be included reconstructions of the tree of life, researchers report in a new study. The mimivirus, shown here (small black hexagons) infecting… Read More ›
-
Scientists use sound waves to levitate liquids, improve pharmaceuticals
Contact: Jared Sagoff jsagoff@anl.gov 630-252-5549 DOE/Argonne National Laboratory It’s not a magic trick and it’s not sleight of hand – scientists really are using levitation to improve the drug development process, eventually yielding more effective pharmaceuticals with fewer side effects…. Read More ›
-
Increased dietary fructose (high fructose corn syrup) linked to elevated uric acid levels and lower liver energy stores
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley Obese patients with type 2 diabetes who consume higher amounts of fructose display reduced levels of liver adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—a compound involved in the energy transfer between cells. The findings, published in the September… Read More ›
-
Oops! Democrats forced to apologize for using picture of SOVIET warships in tribute to American troops
By Toby Harnden In Washington PUBLISHED:14:31 EST, 12 September 2012| UPDATED:15:53 EST, 12 September 2012 Organisers of the Democratic National Convention have said sorry for using an image of Soviet-era Russian warships as a backdrop for a tribute to veterans… Read More ›
-
‘Humiliating punishments for working too slow, bars on the windows and squalid dorms’: Inside the factory that makes the iPhone 5
By Eddie Wrenn PUBLISHED:09:51 EST, 12 September 2012| UPDATED:11:59 EST, 12 September 2012 For Apple’s American workers, today is a big day, with the release of the iPhone 5. But behind the scenes at the Foxconn factory in China, tasked… Read More ›
-
Taking Prozac? Don’t drive: Pills raise risk of you having an accident by 70%
By Sophie Borland PUBLISHED:19:15 EST, 12 September 2012| UPDATED:19:15 EST, 12 September 2012 Taking common antidepressants heightens the risk of accidents greatly Taking happy pills before driving makes you more prone to accidents, researchers claim. They have found… Read More ›
-
One big fraud? Questions over whether ‘$5million’ film that portrayed Mohammed as a pedophile and womanizer AND the producer behind it are fake
‘Innocence of Muslims’ led to protests across Egypt and Libya on Tuesday Producer claimed he was an Israeli Jew living in California named Sam Bacile But film’s consultant, Steve Klein, said the man was using a pseudonym Amid concerns over… Read More ›
-
Protection from Pertussis Vaccine, after the fifth dose wanes more than 40 percent each year
Protection Against Whooping Cough Waned During the Five Years After Fifth Dose of DTaP ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2012) — Protection against whooping cough (also called pertussis) waned during the five years after the fifth dose of the combined diphtheria, tetanus,… Read More ›
-
New Research on “Junk” DNA Raises Questions on Eve of Crucial Court Hearing
On September 19, the Ninth Circuit is set to hear new arguments in Haskell v. Harris, a case challenging California’s warrantless DNA collection program. Today EFF asked the court to consider ground-breaking new research that confirms for the first time… Read More ›
-
Identity of anti-Muslim filmmaker called into question: Update: Film’s consultant confirms “Sam Bacile” is not real
Identity of anti-Muslim filmmaker called into question By Stephen C. Webster Wednesday, September 12, 2012 14:12 EDT Update (below): Film’s consultant confirms “Sam Bacile” is not real A man who claimed he’s the creator of an anti-Muslim film that’s sparked… Read More ›
-
Long-term pesticide exposure may increase risk of diabetes
2008 Repost for filing Contact: Robin Mackar rmackar@niehs.nih.gov 919-541-0073 NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Licensed pesticide applicators who used chlorinated pesticides on more than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes, according to researchers from… Read More ›
-
Solid tumor cells not killed by radiation and chemotherapy become stronger
2008 re-posted for filing Contact: Mary Jane Gore mary.gore@duke.edu 919-660-1309 Duke University Medical Center DURHAM, N.C. – Because of the way solid tumors adapt the body’s machinery to bring themselves more oxygen, chemotherapy and radiation may actually make these tumors… Read More ›
-
Chlorinated Tap water substantially increased the risk of three common birth defects: ventricular septal defects, cleft palate, and anencephalus
Contact: Charlotte Webber charlotte.webber@biomedcentral.com 44-020-763-19980 BioMed Central Is tap water safe for expectant mothers? Drinking water disinfected by chlorine while pregnant may increase the risk of having children with heart problems, cleft palate or major brain defects, according to a… Read More ›
-
The good news in our DNA: Defects you can fix with vitamins and minerals
2008 Re-Post for filing Contact: Robert Sanders rsanders@berkeley.edu 510-643-6998 University of California – Berkeley Personal genomes may lead to personalized vitamin supplements Berkeley — As the cost of sequencing a single human genome drops rapidly, with one company predicting a… Read More ›
-
Plastics chemical retards growth, function of adult reproductive cells
2009 re-post for filing Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IMAGE:Veterinary biosciences professor Jodi Flaws and her colleagues found that mouse follicle cells that were exposed to bisphenol A, a chemical found in many plastics, produced… Read More ›
-
Intestinal bacteria promote — and prevent — inflammatory bowel disease
2008 – re-post for filing Contact: David Cameron david_cameron@hms.harvard.edu 617-432-0441 Harvard Medical School BOSTON, Mass. (May 28, 2008)—Scientists search for drug candidates in some very unlikely places. Not only do they churn out synthetic compounds in industrial-scale laboratories, but they… Read More ›
-
Childhood lead exposure associated with criminal behavior in adulthood
2008 Re-post fro filing Contact: Amanda Harper amanda.harper@uc.edu 513-558-4657 University of Cincinnati IMAGE:Kim Dietrich, Ph.D., is a professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He is prinicpal investigator of the Cincinnati lead cohort study. Click… Read More ›
-
32nd Health Research Report 11 JUN 2008 – Reconstructed
32nd Health Research Report 11 JUN 2008 – Reconstructed Editors Top Five: 1. US reporters often do a poor job of reporting about new medical treatments 2. Pycnogenol improved diabetes control and reduced antihypertensive medications 3. How advanced prostate cancer… Read More ›
-
Popular pain-relieving medicines linked to hearing loss in wome
Contact: Marjorie Montemayor-Quellenberg mmontemayor-quellenberg@partners.org 617-534-2208 Brigham and Women’s Hospital IMAGE:This is Sharon G. Curhan, M.D. Click here for more information. BOSTON, MA—Headache? Back pain? At the first sign of pain, you might reach for a pain-relieving medicine to sooth your… Read More ›
-
New analysis of drinking water-related gastrointestinal illness: May Cause up to cause of up to 1.1 million annual cases of acute gastrointestinal illness
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society The distribution system piping in U.S. public water systems that rely on non-disinfected well water or “ground water” may be a largely unrecognized cause of up to 1.1 million annual cases of… Read More ›
-
Record 4.02 billion prescriptions in United States in 2011
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society People in the United States took more prescription drugs than ever last year, with the number of prescriptions increasing from 3.99 billion (with a cost of $308.6 billion) in 2010 to 4.02… Read More ›
-
China’s next leader Xi Jinping ‘suffered heart attack’
China’s next leader has not been seen in public for 11 days because he suffered a heart attack, a source has told The Daily Telegraph. Xi Jinping in Germany last month. Photo: Getty Images By Malcolm Moore, Beijing 7:30PM BST… Read More ›
-
Study: Banks to blame for over 800,000 unnecessary foreclosures
By Pro Publica Tuesday, September 11, 2012 16:25 EDT By Paul Kiel ProPublica Over the past several years, we’ve reported extensively on the big banks’ foreclosure failings. As a result of banks’ disorganization and understaffing — particularly at the… Read More ›
-
Study: Routine ovarian cancer screenings are ineffective
By Agence France-Presse Tuesday, September 11, 2012 14:01 EDT Topics: cancer specialists ♦ ovarian cancer ♦ US Preventive Services Task Force member Routine screening for ovarian cancer is ineffective and at times can do more harm than good, a panel… Read More ›
-
Polish exorcism boom leads to launch of ‘Egzorcysta’ magazine
By Agence France-Presse Tuesday, September 11, 2012 14:45 EDT With exorcism booming in Poland, Roman Catholic priests have joined forces with a publisher to launch what they claim is the world’s first monthly magazine focused exclusively on chasing out the… Read More ›
-
Woolly mammoth remains may contain living cells
Hair, soft tissues and bone marrow found on Siberian expedition, raising hopes that extinct creature could be cloned Associated Press guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 September 2012 13.15 EDT Frozen fragments of a woolly mammoth have been found by an international expedition… Read More ›
-
The moment Jupiter was HIT by a giant asteroid yesterday – and humanity’s only record was taken by a faithful webcam in the dead of night : A Major Failure of All Earth Based surveillance
Jupiter was hit during the day yesterday – but it apparently went unobserved from Earth …except for one astronomer, Dan Petersen, who saw the flash with his own eyes When Petersen reported the sighting on a web forum, amateur astronomer… Read More ›
-
How China and US ‘secretly tested genetically modified golden rice on children’
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:07:13 EST, 11 September 2012| UPDATED:07:22 EST, 11 September 2012 Genetically manipulated Golden rice has been proposed as a solution to vitamin A deficiency China’s health authorities are investigating allegations that genetically modified rice has been… Read More ›
-
The Deafness Before the Storm : IT was perhaps the most famous presidential briefing in history
Op-Ed Contributor By KURT EICHENWALD For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT. On Aug. 6, 2001, President George W. Bush received a classified review of the threats posed by Osama bin… Read More ›
-
Greece tells Germany: You owe US money for crimes committed during the Nazi occupation
Greece says it has right to claim millions because it was forced to accept ‘unfavourable terms’ during 1950 negotiations Working group has been set to scour old archives to hunt unpaid reparations Many in Greece blame Germany for the tough… Read More ›
-
Survey shifts spotlight away from poor as key supporters of militants in Pakistan: Stronger support for militant groups among the middle class
For immediate release: September 11, 2012 Media contact: Michael Hotchkiss, mh14@princeton.edu, 609-258-9522 Survey shifts spotlight away from poor as key supporters of militants in Pakistan A groundbreaking survey of Pakistanis has found stronger support for militant groups among the… Read More ›
-
Reconstructed 1918 influenza virus has yielded key insights, scientists say
Contact: Nalini Padmanabhan padmanabhannm@niaid.nih.gov 301-402-1663 NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases WHAT: The genetic sequencing and reconstruction of the 1918 influenza virus that killed 50 million people worldwide have advanced scientists’ understanding of influenza biology and yielded important… Read More ›
-
Russia’s Deputy PM says country must shoot for Moon base
By Alissa de CarbonnelPosted 2012/09/11 at 7:45 am EDT MOSCOW, Sep. 11, 2012 (Reuters) — Russia should set itself the “super goal” of building a large base on the Moon it could use to achieve “leaps” in science and to… Read More ›
-
Vitamin C and beta-carotene might protect against dementia
Contact: Willi Baur willi.baur@uni-ulm.de 49-731-502-2020 IOS Press Study examines the influence of antioxidants on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease Forgetfulness, lack of orientation, cognitive decline… about 700, 000 Germans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Now researchers from the University of… Read More ›
-
Diet could combat adverse side-effects of quinine: Add Tryptophan
11 Sep 2012 08:14:31.858 Scientists at The University of Nottingham say adverse side-effects caused by the anti-parasitic drug quinine in the treatment of malaria could be controlled by what we eat. The research, carried out by Nottingham scientists on… Read More ›
-
Breast cancer risks acquired in pregnancy may pass to next 3 generations
Contact: John Pastor jdpastor@vt.edu 540-231-5646 Virginia Tech Chemicals or foods that raise estrogen levels during pregnancy may increase cancer risk in daughters, granddaughters, and even great-granddaughters, according to scientists from Virginia Tech and Georgetown University. Pregnant rats on a diet… Read More ›
-
The amount employees are borrowing to get through the month had risen sharply from £127 to £327 pounds since March.( U.K. )
Workers borrow more than £300 a month Employees are borrowing more each month to make ends meet Photo: Alamy <!– remove the whitespace added by escenic before end of tag –> 3:58PM BST 10 Sep 2012 Workers are borrowing more… Read More ›
-
How having an operation can send you delirious: Terrifying post-surgery hallucinations strike up to half of the over-65s: “can also leave people in a permanent state of confusion and suffering from dementia”
By Roger Dobson PUBLISHED:18:46 EST, 10 September 2012| UPDATED:18:46 EST, 10 September 2012 When Gordon Sturmey came around after surgery, he was convinced people were trying to kill him. He believed a nurse was trying to poison him, and he… Read More ›
-
NHS hospitals sending your confidential notes to India to be typed up
A series of hospitals have admitted using cheap secretarial agencies in India By Sophie Borland PUBLISHED:10:53 EST, 10 September 2012| UPDATED:19:25 EST, 10 September 2012 Hospitals are sending hundreds of thousands of confidential letters about patients to India to be… Read More ›
Engineering Evil 